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Sacramento Kings Have a Hard Pill to Swallow

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By JH Kubicek | Last updated May 21, 2025 8:23 PM ET

The Sacramento Kings are in NBA purgatory, which basically means they are in NBA hell. Even the worst teams can hope that the draft lottery will bail them out, but the Kings, coming off two straight play-in tournament appearances, can't even pray for ping-pong balls.

With Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine all on the team, the Kings have enough theoretical talent to make a run for the playoffs, but the crowded West makes that a near-impossible task.

That presents the Kings with a conundrum that fans might not be ready to address.

Either Sacramento can go all-in on their current veteran core, or they can sell their stars for future assets and wait for the West to settle down.

With the Thunder, Spurs, and Rockets all on the rise, that won't happen anytime soon, but maybe, if they play their cards right, they could be in the mix.

However, if the new front office is married to the current core, then it's clear that they need a point guard, ideally one who can play defense.

Do Jrue Holiday or Marcus Smart sound good? If so, it might be time to trade Keegan Murray, who doesn't match up with the timeline of the veteran core.

Murray has been seen as "untouchable" in the past, but he doesn't really space the floor (or at least didn't last season) and doesn't play a position of need for the Kings.

If a point guard is the true priority this summer, then Murray suddenly becomes expendable.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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